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This article focuses on the role of the major trade union confederations in the policies for gender equality at work. It aims to show how, based on the statistical framework and the tools proposed by the state, a space for mobilization around statistical measurement is created. Far from remaining passive in the face of these seemingly technical challenges, trade unions are developing a strong reflexivity. They draw upon expert and scientific skills from the social sciences and raise the political stakes of the use of equality measures (formulas, indicators, tools), although outcomes are restricted by largely unfavorable power relations. Three moments of controversy are described, which concern both the defense of the statistical framework and its development. The article proposes the notion of institutional statactivism, insofar as the statistical framework of equality at work and the arenas for discussing quantification practices are the product of law and the state.